Over the past 10 years, internally pressurized capsules made from Zr-2.5Nb tubing have been irradiated in the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River Laboratories at temperatures of 280, 320, and 340°C and dose rates between 3 × 1015 n · m−2 · s−1 and 2 × 1017 n · m−2 · s−1 (E > 1 MeV). Periodic gaging has been used to assess the primary and secondary (steady-state) creep behavior. The objective of this detailed and controlled experiment was to determine, for the first time, the creep and microstructure evolution in Zr-2.5Nb tubing over a wide range of irradiation conditions for fast neutron fluxes applicable to a CANDU pressure tube. Similar but “accelerated” creep experiments have been conducted in the Osiris test reactor at fast neutron fluxes of approximately 1.8 × 1018 n · m−2 · s−1 (E > 1 MeV), much greater than the neutron fluxes in the NRU reactor. Although accelerated tests in high-flux reactors such as Osiris provide information on irradiation creep, they do not represent the neutron flux conditions applicable to a power reactor. Tests covering power reactor operating conditions are needed to develop models for in-reactor creep of pressure tubes under the appropriate conditions. The data from the NRU reactor are compared with results from creep capsules with similar starting microstructures but irradiated in the Osiris reactor. The results show that the steady-state diametral and axial creep rates have a complex dependence on stress, temperature, and fast neutron flux. Data from out-reactor creep tests on unirradiated and pre-irradiated creep capsules that show the effect of prior irradiation on creep are also reported. The results are discussed in terms of a combination of creep mechanisms involving dislocation glide and mass transport.
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The Isotope Ratio Method (IRM) is a technique used for estimating the energy production in a fission reactor by measuring isotope ratios in non-fuel reactor components. This method has been successfully demonstrated on the estimation of cumulative energy production as well as plutonium production in graphite-moderated and light-water-moderated reactors for non-proliferation purposes. In this paper, IRM was used to estimate neutron fluence in Zr-2.5Nb materials irradiated in fast neutron (FN) irradiation facilities in the NRU reactor. Neutron fluence has been shown to be an important parameter for studying irradiation effects on the performance and properties of critical reactor components. Selected isotope ratios of hafnium and iron were used as indicators of the neutron fluence in Zr-2.5Nb sample materials. Correlations between neutron fluence and the indicator element isotope ratios were generated using the reactor physics simulation codes WIMS AECL and SCALE/ORIGEN. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to obtain accurate measurements of the isotope ratios. Neutron fluence values estimated using IRM, were in good agreement with the values based on measured irradiation power histories of the NRU reactor. This study proposes a potential application of IRM to the estimation of neutron fluence for critical reactor components in heavy water-moderated reactors such as pressure and calandria tubes in CANDU® reactors.
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